Congenital Lyme

Pregnancy, Infants. Toddlers, Teens
 “If false results are to be feared, it is the false negative result which holds the greatest peril for
the patient.”

Gestational Lyme Borreliosis. Implications for the fetus. MacDonald,
AB, Rheum Dis Clin North Am,15(4):657-77.1989.

Syphillis and Borrellia are infectious disorders that have spread around the world.
Some doctors say 95% of the population of the world have Lyme or co-infections.

The CDC say that lyme is most common with boys aged 5-19.

Children with Lyme disease may miss important developmental stages, due to because of social isolation caused by chronic ill health, and the failure of their peers to understand the nature and degree of their illness. They may fall behind their peers in school because their brains are not functioning properly. Children suffer when their bodies hurt, when the illness causes them not to be able to have restorative sleep every night, when they must struggle in school, when they don’t even feel like playing. They may feel confused, lost, and betrayed by caregivers who fail to recognize that something organic is going on, but instead blame them.. Isolation from parents occurs when parents don’t understood the nature of the illness, and the implications for the child’s functioning.

Source: //www.lymedisease.org/resources/children.html


Most children born with Lyme or a co-infection do go undiagnosed, unrecognised, un-treated or even mis-diagnosed, as Lyme is the great imitator. most children do get under treated as well.
It is about time that all health professionals, paediatricians, mental health professionals recognised that Lyme and co-infections can be passed via the placenta and children are born with the infection.

Children who have been previously diagnosed with learning or attention disorders and are complaining of other ailments should be tested for Lyme and co-infections.
It is vitally important that children do get treated as soon as it is found that they are infected.

Because Lyme symptoms  can be  vague and shift around the body on a day to day basis many children are seen as "Lazy" or emotionaly disturbed or attention seeking.
Children have a hard time explaining what is going on in their bodies and find it hard describing the symptoms.
Their symptoms can be seen as bizarre and unbelivable.
As the taught beliefs about Lyme is that there is a Bulls eye rash many proffessionals will dismiss Lyme as the cause.



What are the symptoms?

Abdominal pain

Joint pains, migratory and intermittent

 Myalgias or muscle aches and pains

Sleep disturbance, night terrors, Insommnia, trouble falling asleep, Frequent awakenings, Sleep Walking/talking.

Aerobic exercise intolerance

Frequent infections, viral, bacterial and
fungal

Recurrent swollen lymph nodes
anywhere (neck, armpits, groin)

Flu-like illness at any time of the year

Fatigue, often unrelieved by rest

Neurological and psychiatric symptoms

 Headaches

Unexplained fevers, often cyclical

Chest pains, shortness of breath, dry
cough

Urinary urgency and frequency, dysuria
or painful urination

Rashes of all kinds that come and go

Dark circles under the eyes

Intermittent red, hot pinnae or external
ears.

Neurological and Psychiatric Symptoms

Uncharacteristic behavior outbursts, mood
disturbances, irritability, emotional lability

Social withdrawal, decreased participation in
activities

Depression

Suicidal thoughts in over 40%

Rage and anger management disorders

New onset anxiety disorders, phobias
Oppositional behaviors

Obsessive compulsive disorders

Hallucinations of all kinds

Psychosis

Personality changes

Self-mutilating behaviors

90% of children have a deterioration in academic or school performance.

Difficulty with: Concentration, attention, easily distracted, can be seen as having ADHD or ADD.
Word finding problems
Short term memory problems
Difficulties with auditory processing.
Difficulties with Visual sequential processing. Child can be seen as dyslexic,
Headaches of all kinds

Aberrations (mostly hypersensitivity) of
sensory stimuli of noise, light, sound,
touch, taste

Poor balance and coordination

Peripheral neuropathies – numbness and
tingling, distal parasthesias, subtle
weakness, severely painful neuralgias

Loss of previously acquired motor skills

Movement disorders – spasticity, ataxia,
motor or vocal tics

Cranial neuropathies, e.g. Bell’s Palsy
or optic nerve neuritis (can result in
visual loss)

Partial complex seizures

Peripheral motor weakness

Apparent demyelinating disease
(multiple sclerosis)

Spinal cord involvement(myelopathies)

Pseudo tumor cerebri or increased
intracranial pressure, papilledema

Gastrointestinal Symptoms

Abdominal pains of all kinds

Changes in appetite

Mouth sores, sore throats

Changes in stooling patterns (unexplained
diarrhea or constipation)

Musculoskeletal symptoms

Migratory, intermittent joint pains, esp. of
extremities, neck and spine and chest wall

Deep bone pains

Muscle pains, spasms, twitches

Urological Symptoms

Loss of bladder control with return to wetting
during day or at night

Urgency and frequency, hesitancy

Cardiac Symptoms

Chest pains

Palpitations

Immune System

Frequent infections, esp. viral

Increased allergies and chemical sensitivities

Infants

Infants can be infected with Borrelia transplacentally in any stage of pregnancy
and/or via mother’s breast milk.  The co-infections: Babesia, Bartonella,Mycoplasma and perhaps even the
Ehrlichias may be transmitted transplacentally to the developing fetus. Gestational Borreliosis can be associated with repeated miscarriages, fetal death in utero, fetal death at term (stillbirths),
hydrocephalus, cardiovascular anomalies, intrauterine growth retardation, neonatal respiratory distress, “sepsis” and death, neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, cortical blindness, sudden infant death syndrome
and maternal toxemia of pregnancy.
Borrelia spirochetes have been found at autopsy in fetal brain, liver, adrenal glands, spleen, bone marrow, heart and placenta None of the infected tissues showed any sign of inflammation Maternal antibiotic treatment during pregnancy does not guarantee that the fetus will be free of infection Mothers with Lyme disease should be treated throughout pregnancy
Infants either infected congenitally or from breast
milk can have Floppiness with poor muscle tone
Irritability
Frequent fevers and illness early in life
Joint sensitivities and body pain
Skin sensitivity
Gastro esophageal reflux
Developmental delays
Learning disabilities and psychiatric problems


Infants infected congenitally can have
Small windpipes (tracheomalacia)
Eye problems (cataracts)
Heart defects
Infants infected with breast milk as well as infants
bitten very early in life will have many of the same
symptoms as congenitally infected babies
Infected infants often show a loss or decline in previously acquired developmental milestones
and become slower at learning new skills



Pre-schoolers and toddlers

Mood swings, sudden emotional outbursts
Irritability

Personality changes

Regression of motor and social skills
(developmental milestones)

Changes in play behavior, tire easily, less
active

Trouble falling asleep, frequent
awakenings

 Nightmares, new phobias, recurrence of
separation anxiety

Diaper rash unresponsive to normal
treatment

Frequent URIs, ear and throat infections,
bronchitis, pneumonia

Adolescents

Parents and teachers may think any
unusual behaviors are just “normal”
adolescence or problems such as illicit
drug use or new onset psychiatric disorder

Mood swings, oppositional behaviors,
anxiety, depression

Self mutilating behaviors

Teenagers often do not report to or show
parents problems with their bodies

Teens can also turn to alcohol and illicit
drugs as self medication

Teenage girls may have pelvic pain or
menstrual problems, ovarian cysts, boys
may have testicular pain

Teens need to be aware that Borrelia may
be sexually transmitted and that a fetus
can acquire the infection from the mother during pregnancy

**Always consult a LLMD (Lyme Literate Doctor) or your own health care proffessional.**
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